Major League Lacrosse: Chesapeake Bayhawks Week 8 Check-In

After two straight losses to Long Island and Boston Chesapeake coach Brendan Kelly was looking for his team to get back on track heading into the All-Star break and that's just what they did with a 13-11 win over Rochester.

Sure, the Rattlers are 0-7 and Chesapeake had quiet games from the starting midfield of Kyle Dixon, Ben Hunt and Michael Kimmel (just one goal — off the stick of Hunt — among all three of them) but they got big games from the guys they've been trying to get involved in the offense all along. Steven Brooks had two goals, including a two-pointer, and an assist and Dan Hardy added three goals to combine with a reliably solid performance from the attack in the win.

"It was good timing at the halfway point of the season and good to have the entire offense getting into the mix," Kelly said. "We're trying to work hard in getting everyone involved. I think we've really been able to accomplish that and we're really looking forward to going to Hamilton this week."

Off the Ground

An area of focus all season for the Bayhawks has been midfield transition and ground ball play. Something both Kelly and Dave Cottle were underwhelmed by in the early going of the season, small tweaks here and there have significantly contributed to an improvement in this area.

First, it was the additions of Steven DeNapoli to the defensive midfield corps and Barney Ehrmann to the LSM position, both whose hustle and gritty play led to an improvement. Now, the Bayhawks have taken a known quantity and moved him to an area where he can be even more successful.

Defensive midfielder Matt Abbott was involved in some offensive sets earlier in the season and has been moved into a role the former Syracuse star is more known for: transition.

"We moved him back to where he plays his best and where he made the All-Star game at and that's at the transition midfield position," Kelly said. "He helped us a lot the other night when we played Rochester and he creates a lot of transition for us. We've tried some different things during the season to see if we can get some different looks but at Rochester we went back to what got us a championship."

Goalie Update

Chris Garrity, who was in net for Chesapeake's 2010 title run and was the starter at the beginning of the season, has been cleared to play after undergoing surgery to repair an MCL tear.

He won't automatically be inserted back into the starting position though. Brian Phipps, who earned the starting job in Garrity's absence, will retain the top spot. Phipps has posted a .559 save percentage and a 14.00 goals against average in five games with the Bayhawks.

"Brian Phipps is our goalie right now. He's proven that and we have a lot of faith in him," Kelly said. "He's stepped up. He made the All-Star Game. We're excited to have Brian there and Chris back and backing him up and working his way back into the mix and challenging him for that position. We know Chris can win a championship and we know Brian can do the same thing. It's good to have both those goalies in the mix right now."

Smith at the X

While Alex Smith's .508 (98-193) face-off win percentage is good for fourth in the league, it's certainly not evidence of the dominating performances common throughout Smith's career.

"If you're a face-off guy, every game is a street fight," Kelly said, adding that he thinks Smith is going to be just fine on face-offs and noting that he is not injured. "You're butting horns at least 30 times a game and using every ounce of your body to free the ball up on the ground. All the face-off guys really take a beating. The All-Star break gave Alex another rest and he and Geoff Snider will battle again this weekend."

The battle between Smith and Snider should be an intriguing one. The two collided in last summer's World Championships as the face-off specialists for the United States and Canada, respectively, and Snider sits just four percentage points and one slot ahead of Smith in the current face-off standings.

It was Snider who got the better of Smith in the first matchup of the season between these two teams, going 15-26 in a mid-May contest.

This Weekend

On the docket this weekend is Hamilton. The Bayhawks won the first round matchup, taking a 14-10 win in May but as both head coaches noted, each team is different heading into this game.

Chesapeake is starting to find itself offensively with the deepest midfield in the league starting to come together and get contributions throughout. For Hamilton, the biggest difference is the absence of John Grant Jr.

"They're getting scoring from some different guys," Kelly said. "Last time we played Hamilton, you had to focus on John Grant with the offense and now that he isnt there, they have a couple other weapons they can score with and I think it's one of those things you make adjustments for and see how the game goes."